UNHCR Regional Bureau for the Americas

This report provides a summary overview of population statistics of the Americas region in 2020 based on publicly available data. It includes trends and analysis of the major population groups, three leading focus countries and the two major displacement situations in the region.

Contents

Key Figures

Forcibly Displaced Population data are sent to UNHCR Country Offices by member states, usually through national institutions responsible for data production in the area of refugee and asylum (National Statistical Offices, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, and Administrative Tribunals). D. When a country does not report refugee figures to UNHCR, estimations based on positive decisions on asylum applications from previous years are used.

Forcible Displacement

As per 2020 statistical reporting in the Americas, he total population of concern is 18,357,000, this includes:

  • Total refugees, Asylum-seekers & Venezuelan Displaced Abroad: 6,728,000
  • Total Internally Displaced Persons 8,571,000
  • Total Statelessness 4,000
  • Total Other of Concerns 3,052,000

Solutions

  • Total returned refugees 0
  • Total returned IDP 0
  • Total resettlement 19,000
  • Total Naturalisation 5,000

Profiles

Total children below 18

Hosted in urban/peri-urban areas

Regional Overview

The following chart visualizes population movements between source and destination countries in the region. Countries that account for less than 1% of the population of concern were lumped together as “Other”.

Figure 1 | Population origin-destination in the region

Figure 2 | Evolution over time of the different Population of Concern

The Americas hosts Americas per cent of the total persons of concern to UNHCR. Americas per cent of the world’s refugee population and Americas per cent of the world’s stateless population live in the region.

CUNHCR Presence in the Americas The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

Regional Analysis

What displacement?

Figure 3 | Largest Countries of Asylum

Figure 4 | Other Displacement

SDG Indicator 10.7.4 Proportion of the population who are refugees, by country of origin / Target 10.7 Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies / Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries

Forced displacement as a result of conflict, violence, and other causes undermine sustainable development, and can increase the risk of regional instability, especially when refugees are hosted in neighbouring countries, resulting in possible tensions with local populations. The United Nations General Assembly Resolution (A/Res/70/1) that adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at paragraph 23 recognizes the relevance of the Agenda to meet the needs of refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants on the basis that they are among the most vulnerable. It also explicitly states that Member States resolve to take further effective measures and actions, to “strengthen support and meet the special needs of people living in areas affected by complex humanitarian emergencies”.

In addition, target 10.7 recognizes for the first time the contribution of migration to sustainable development by aiming to “facilitate orderly, safe, and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies”. This indicator tracks the number of people displaced across national borders as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order. It measures the total count of refugee population by country or territory of origin as a proportion of the total population.

Figure 5 | Proportion of the population who are refugees, by country of origin

What profiles?

Figure 6 | Where Demographic Composition is available?
Figure 7 | Demographic Composition

Figure 8 | Where Displacement Condition description is available?
Figure 9 | Displacement & Accommodation Type

Impact of Covid-19, a dramatic drop of solutions

Since the first case of COVID-19 was recorded in December 2019, more than 170 million people worldwide have contracted the virus.

Durable solutions include voluntary repatriation, resettlement to a third country, local integration, naturalization and return to place of origin prior to displacement (for IDPs). However, a growing number of displaced populations have limited opportunities for a durable solution. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these challenges.

The partial or full closure of borders, along with more general restrictions on movement aimed at limiting the pandemic’s spread, has dramatically impacted opportunities for displaced people to return to their home countries or resettle to other countries.

Refugee Status Determination

Country highlights

Mexico

Figure 12 | Evolution over time of the different Population of Concern

Brazil

Colombia

Ecuador

Peru

Analysis of Situation

Venezuela Situation

As the second-largest displacement crisis in the world, refugees and migrants from Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) now total 5.7 million globally, of which more than 80 percent are hosted by countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. To date, more than 171,000 have been recognized as refugees and over 850,000 asylum claims have also been lodged worldwide. Across the region, just under 2.7 million have been granted some form of residency or regular stay permit.

Inside Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), UNHCR protects and assists refugees and Venezuelan nationals. The latter is done in the framework of the Humanitarian Response Plan which targets 4.5 million persons in need. Primarily through the protection cluster and the cluster responsible for shelter, energy and non-food items, UNHCR’s coordination and operational efforts support people on-the-move, at risk of displacement, host communities, as well as limited numbers of spontaneous returns, especially in border areas and along key population movement routes.

El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala & Mexico

Conclusion: the Importance of EGRIS Recommandations

The Expert Group on Refugee and IDP Statistics, in which UNHCR belongs to the steering committee, has released the International Recommendations on Refugee Statistics (IRRS), which were adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission during its 2018 session and is a strong Last updated: February 2021 reference for refugee statistics reporting methodologies. UNHCR supports NSOs to build capacity to report on forced displacement in countries that currently lack disaggregated data on refugees.

• Expert Group on Refugee and IDP Statistics (EGRIS): https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/expert-group-on-refugee-statistics

• International Recommendations on Refugee Statistics (IRRS): https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/KS-GQ-18-004

Glossary

UNHCR Population Statistics Databasehttp://popstats.unhcr.org contains data about UNHCR’s populations of concern from the year 1951 up to 2014 as well as their general composition by location of residence or origin, their status, their evolution over time.

Refugees recognized by the Government and/or UNHCR include:

Every year, UNHCR publish its Population Statistics Reference. it includes detailed statistics from each country on Refugee Status Determination. The data set contains not only reference by country of asylum and country of origin but also:

UNHCR ASR source of figures is IDMC, which estimation methodology can differ from other sources: https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/download/?url=E1ZxP

Stateless population refers to those individuals without a nationality in their country of habitual residence. Non-stateless population refers to those individuals without a nationality in their country of habitual residence and who are either internally or internationally displaced.

The population groups in this chart should not be summed up to calculate the total POCs figures as the stateless population group includes both non-displaced and displaced stateless.